Not Another Notch
by MountEverest
Summary: Story set during and after Yanks in the UK. Brennan contemplates the people she met in England and tries to have a few conversations with Booth.
1. Chapter 1

"Ian is rather cute, don't you think?"

"What? No…Bones. Guys don't consider other guys as "cute."

Bones looked over at her partner with a slight smile. "He asked me out to dinner tonight. I think that I will accept."

His eyes were dark as he met her gaze. "He wants more than dinner from you Bones."

"Are you suggesting he merely wants to have sex with me?"

She could be so naïve sometimes, he fumed. "No. I am not suggesting anything. I am telling you that if you sleep with that man, you are just another notch on his bedpost. You deserve more than that, Bones."

Bones was always amazed at how Booth had such a hard time with her sexual appetite when it didn't line up with his stodgy view of relationships. Yet, she didn't exactly want to just be a notch, so she had learned to trust the instincts of her partner when it came to people's intentions. "And what is it that I deserve Booth?"

Booth reached his hand in his pocket and fiddled with the poker chip that was a permanent resident there. He just didn't want to see his partner hurt, right? Yeah, that, but if he wanted to be completely honest with himself, he just didn't like the idea of Ian the womanizer touching his Bones. Like he said, she deserved much more than that, more than Ian. "You deserve respect Bones, for starters. Ian does not respect the women that he sleeps with. They are conquests to him. You are a special woman that demands respect, not one to be made a personal conquest by the likes of Ian Wexler."

"You don't like him much, do you Booth?" Bones was touched by Booth's words, even though she wouldn't show him that.

"I like him jut fine Bones, I just don't want you sleeping with him." Booth had no problem with Ian as a person or colleague. The only problem he had was his intention towards his partner.

"You now have a say in my sexual behaviors?" Anger tinged her voice. Her amusement was now gone, replaced by irritation. She was a grown woman who did not need Seeley Booth telling her who she could have sexual relations with.

"Bones…No, but…What I'm trying to say is…never mind. Sleep with whoever you want Bones. I've got work to do." Booth threw up his hands in frustration and defeat. He had tried to tell her what he thought, and it backfired on him. Temperance Brennan hated being told what to do, and when she thought someone was, she often did the exact opposite in protest. He had probably just pushed her into Ian's eager arms, and bed. Damn it. He tried to vow that next time he would just keep his mouth shut, but he knew he couldn't do that either. He would try at every opportunity to enlighten her to the ways of people, and to let her know exactly how special she truly is. Maybe he would just outright tell her next time.


	2. Chapter 2

"Booth, what do you think about partners having a sexual relationship?"

Booth nearly choked on the pie he was eating. "What!?" After he recovered, he looked incredulously at Bones, wary of her question. "I mean, uh, what do you mean?"

Bones was amused by his reaction to her question. "I mean, what do you think about partners having a sexual relationship? It was a pretty straightforward question."

"Bones…"

Trying to hide a smirk at his obvious discomfort, Brennan elaborated on her thoughts. "I was considering the relationship between Ian and Pritch. They were partners and they had a sexual relationship. To me, it made sense that they were involved sexually. It seemed inevitable. I wanted your opinion on the matter."

"I don't understand. Why was it inevitable?"

"As partners, they understood each other. And they spent so much time together, obviously forging a bond that understandably led to sexual encounters."

"There's fault in your logic, Bones. According to your assessment, we should be sleeping together too. We understand each other and we spend more time with each other than anyone else. And, I think we have forged quite a bond. Yet, we have a strictly platonic relationship."

Bones contemplated Booth's comment. "There do seem to many similarities between us and Ian and Pritch. I wonder what led them to bed, but not us."

"It's easy Bones. We're different."

"You're going to have to be more specific Booth."

"Ian had many, and that is an understatement, other sexual relationships going on at the same time he was with Pritch. According to you, so did she. It was not the understanding they had or the bond they had forged that led them to be sexual partners. If those things were stronger, they probably wouldn't have gotten involved with each other. They just wanted sex."

"You're saying that they weren't that close? And if they had been, they wouldn't have had sex."

"That is correct."

Bones pushed her salad around her plate as she mulled over the conversation at hand. She was trying to apply it to the dynamic that she and Booth had. "We have a strong bond."

"Yes," Booth said, confirming his partners statement.

"We understand each other." She continued down the path she had started, making connections.

He tilted his head to the side slightly, putting his honesty in his eyes. "Of course we do."

"And that's why we don't have a sexual relationship?"

Booth shifted in his seat, uncomfortable again, before answering. "That seems to be an oversimplification. But yes, that's probably a big part of it."

Brennan locked eyes with Booth across the table, contemplating the magnitude of the conversation while simultaneously searching for some sort of hidden truth in his eyes. Her scrutiny overwhelmed him, as he turned his gaze from her and shifted it to his empty plate.

She considered following his lead, and dropping the conversation entirely, but a comment from Pritch encouraged her to continue, to push to the end. "Booth…"

"Bones…" he warned. His tone lightened a bit. "There can be very fulfilling relationships without sex."

"Like ours?"

"Of course, like ours." He was surprised she even had to ask. Suddenly, worry engulfed him. "Are you not satisfied with our working relationship Bones."

"No, we have a wonderful working relationship Bones. I wouldn't trade it for the world." She flashed him a quick smile to alleviate any concerns he had. "It's just…" she paused and changed her mind. "Nevermind, it's nothing. I was just thinking about something Pritch told me about mountains and regrets. I'll see you later." She dared to look in his eyes briefly before walking out of the diner. Feelings were never her thing. Maybe she should just stop trying.


	3. Chapter 3

"…and you think the cause of death was…" Booth paused mid sentence as Brennan's cell phone rang loudly, again. For the third time in less than twenty minutes. All personal calls. He had kept his mouth shut until now, but couldn't hold his tongue any longer. "Who keeps calling you Bones? I try to get a whole sentence out and get interrupted. Is there something going on?"

"No need to worry Booth. It's a man."

"Oh. Who?"

"The first call was Todd. Brian was the second call. And Damian is who I just talked to, the third call."

"That's not one man, Bones. That's men, as in multiple." Booth was expecting one man to have called multiple times. Not multiple guys calling one time. He contemplated how many others there could be since these three calls occurred in such a short timeframe.

"I know Booth. I meant that each individual call was from a man…" Brennan was unsure how to take his surprised and displeased look.

"That's a lot of guys Bones."

"And that is bad?"

"It's none of my business, Bones." She had been distancing herself from him recently, so he felt it best to just bow out of the current conversation, regardless of how strongly he felt on the issue.

"Then why do you look like you have something to tell me Booth."

He tried to let it go, but she wouldn't drop it. She had been acting differently, unperceivable to anyone else, but to Booth it was glaringly obvious. "It's just that…you don't date for months, and all of a sudden you have three, at least three, gentlemen callers? What's going on?"

"Something has to be wrong for men to want to be with me? Thanks a lot Booth." She was more angry by his ability to know her truth than by his words alone. She had walls and barriers up around herself, ones she had finely crafted for many years, and she hated that he didn't even see them anymore.

"You are twisting my words and you know it. This is not how you normally are and I want to know what's going on."

She defensively crossed her arms, challenging him. "How am I normally?" As his head shook slightly, indicating his refusal to take her bait, she uncrossed her arms and sighed deeply. Honesty was the only way he would leave her alone now. "I have been contemplating relationships a lot since we got back from England and have decided that I would like one."

"With three guys?"

"And that is a problem?"

Booth was fed up with these circular conversations about relationships and sex that had been the hallmark of their partnership as of late. It seemed as if they had been reduced to playing games, games with no defined rules or ending. The anger in his voice as he spoke was more evident than he would have liked. "You are not making any sense Bones. You just go ahead with your multiple sex partners and call me when you decide you can put your burgeoning social life on hold enough to finish the case." He quickly began to walk away.

"Stop. You're mad at me. I thought you would be proud at my attempt to branch outside of the lab." Her words were quiet. She knew she frustrated him, even when it was not her intention. "How do I not make sense?"

"You don't want to hear what I have to say."

"I think that I do Booth." She too felt they had been going in meaningless circles and was tired. She had avoided asking advice or support from him lately. She felt herself drawing away from him, though she could not pinpoint why exactly. And since advice from Booth was exactly how she dealt with things like this, she gave in. It was time to find the answers.

"Fine." Her sincerity caused his heart to ache for her. "Something is bothering you. Something important, that deals specifically with feelings, possibly relationships. You are unsure how to deal with it, and that causes you to look for answers in the wrong places. You say you want a relationship, one relationship Bones, right after you give me a list of the guys that you are seeing." He has to pause and regain his composure. He will deal with why talking about the guys she dates causes his blood pressure go up at a different time, alone. "If you truly were searching for a meaningful relationship, you would start with one guy at a time. There's something else going on here and that's all I'm saying."

Her fingers fidgeted as she contemplated his words. He seemed to have insight, but he had not produced the answers that she was searching for. "If you are correct, then what is bothering me?"

"I don't know Bones." Her disappointment was evident when he did not have all the answers she wanted. He knew why she was disappointed. "I bet you don't know either."


	4. Chapter 4

Brennan had been considering the words of her emotionally more intelligent partner. He was right. She had not known what was wrong. Not exactly anyways. She had finally concluded that she wanted a meaningful relationship. Over the years she had been evolving into a person more willing and open to the idea of sharing parts of her life with another. Booth had been right. She was looking for the right things in the wrong places. But she knew what she wanted now.

"What are you thinking so hard about Bones?"

"I have discovered something."

"What have you discovered?" The glimmer in her eye was very telling. She was intrigued by whatever discovery that she had made.

She made sure she had his full attention before answering. "That I already have a meaningful relationship." Their eyes met from across the table. "More precisely, that you and I already have a meaningful relationship."

"That's a discovery? I already knew that, Bones." His eyes twinkled with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

"For me it is. I have been thinking rationally, compartmentalizing if you wish. You are my partner. You are my friend. I get partner things from you and I get friends things from you. But that is not the truth, not the entire truth. I get everything from you, Booth."

"Everything?"

"You are the intuitive heart guy to my scientific empiricism. And it expands beyond work. In new situations I instinctively search for anthropological answers to guide me, and you help me when my findings are not firmly rooted in the real world. You are my social and emotional barometer. Everyday I learn from you." She reached over and gently placed her hand on his. She wanted him to know that this was important and that she appreciated him. "Whenever I need a shoulder, you are there. Whenever I want to run, you are there. Whenever I have an accomplishment, you are there."

Booth was surprised. He was touched by her words, but the fact that she was being so forthright about emotions was surprising, and overwhelming. His defensive mechanism of humor kicked in to hide his discomfort. "So what you're saying, is that you can't get rid of me."

"What I am saying is that I don't want to."

His eyes darkened, his seriousness conveyed within. "You don't have to Bones."

"But I would, Booth. You are a part of every aspect of my life. Bringing someone new in my life would challenge that. They would want to take your place in some areas, and I am not okay with that. That is one of the reasons I was searching for answers in the bedroom. That is the only current opening in my life."

"What are you saying?" Booth searched for clarification. He understood Bones, most of the time. But in instances like this, her words and her meanings often did not exactly match.

"I guess what I am saying is that I do not have to continue my search for a meaningful relationship. What you and I have is very satisfying. I plan on maintaining what we have and then all I would need is occasional biological releases. Problem solved."

He removed his hand from hers. Typical Bones. "So, you solved your problem by doing…nothing."

"Well, technically I have done nothing. But what I have done is figure out a course that would make me happy."

"Which is the same course that you were on before you had a realization…" He was trying to make her see, but it was useless. She thought she had figured out some mystery. She had not figured out anything. She had just stated what he had known for years, and apparently had only now figured out.

"But I did not know it. Now that I do understand, I am okay with it."

"You are forgetting an important variable in the quest to happiness, Bones."

"And what variable is that Booth." Brenna was certain she had considered all angles, as was necessary in all of her scientific inquiry.

"Me Bones. You are forgetting me."

"I am not forgetting you…You aren't a variable Booth. You… it's all about you. A variable means that…" He had to stop her scientific definition ramble short. This was getting to be too much.

"What if I don't want a part in this perfect plan of yours?"


	5. Chapter 5

Booth needed air. He walked outside and she followed him. " I don't understand Booth."

He turned to face her, his arms flung up in frustration. "Of course you don't Bones! And knowing that you truly do not understand what you just said to me is the only reason I am still here!"

"What…I told you that I was happy with our relationship…"

"Do you think I haven't known what I mean to you for years? That that is why I am always there for you? This huge revelation of yours…it's nothing. I am glad you have finally caught up with the rest of us Bones, but I refuse to do it anymore."

"You refuse to do what Booth?" Brennan was having trouble figuring out what was happening. Booth was the calm and collected one between the two and something she had done caused some big issues. She took a step forward, trying to show him that she was really trying.

"Bones…," his voice seemed to soften as he said her name, "…you keep throwing around this idea of a meaningful relationship. You said that you finally discovered that we had forged an incredibly meaningful relationship, and at the same time you take that away by basically saying you'll foster it until it goes away. You'll use me for what I give you, without even giving me the opportunity…A true, deep relationship, the kind that you say you are searching for, is created when two people give their selves to the other. That's not something you would understand." He was walking a line, trying to convey everything he could, without going to far.

"Why are you angry?"

"You didn't even consider what it is that I want. You just assumed that I would continue to just sit back and be everything to you and watch you be with other guys. It sucks Bones, and I won't do it anymore." So much for walking the line he thought.

"And what is it that you want Booth?"

His shoulders sagged in defeat. He had lost control of the situation, and it was threatening to ruin everything he had tried so hard to cultivate and protect. "Please…please don't make me answer that Bones."

She was right in front of him, her arms gripping his, urging him. "Tell me what you want."

He sighed deeply before beginning. "I want… I want to be able to pick you up for a case without stifling my excitement for just being around you. I want to be able to touch you without fearing it will be for the last time. I want to spend time with you without death or bones, or excuses." His eyes were as open and honest as they had ever been. He searched her blue orbs for any hint of reciprocation. "I want to…I want to…" Her proximity and her probing eyes were too much. Booth's self control crumbled. His hands went to her face, and pulled her to him slightly so there lips met in a brief moment of perfection. Her lips were soft and inviting, and it took everything he had to pull away. "I want to be able to do that every day." His body sank down to a waiting park bench. He looked up at her, his voice getting softer as he spoke. "I want it all…I want all of you. That's what I want."

The feelings of his kiss still lingering, she sat next to him, bodies touching. "How long…why didn't…I'm sorry Booth."

A nervous smile appeared on his face. "I asked you not to make me answer Bones."

"No, it's not that. I am sorry that it took me so long to catch up." She reached over and grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers. "I want all of you too."

Booth's relieved laughter was a deafening, welcome sound. "I'm glad Bones. I'm glad." They sat together on the bench, staring into each other's eyes, their matching smiles reflecting how they felt in their hearts.

"What now Bones?"

Her eyes twinkled. "Well, we could start with another one of those kisses…"

They laughed together as their lips met again, knowing now that they could be everything to each other.


End file.
